New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-05-08
HIS STORY.
THE STRANGE EXPERIENCE OF AN IN
VENTOR.

remember it as well as if it had been yester-
day You know what State fairs are lhouehouV
ahe Middle West? Always held In mlusunllhe I =
when the weather is hot and sultry' eleaO
barn-like building with narrow galleries running
nro,,nd above and cobwebs hanging from ohe
safters Thousands of people busting in and ouu'
asking questions, dsputlng over the sta.e VI ono
crors and quarTelling over premiums. Lltue oo9s
md big boys hawking peanuts and lemonaoe
children CRYING from the heat men sopplng tneir
faces with their handkerchiefs the air reeKihS
with the smell of machinery, hot cakes, preserves
and over-ripe fruit everybody hot ana mlseraple'
and tho exhibitors all wondering why inc COM
mittee couldn't have fixed the time month Oh 50
earlier or later.
was no rushing business man, or great stock
raiser or thriving horticultulist. Only piau1
farmer Shiftlcss tho neighboIs called me, ana
wondered why Jane Markham had thrown over
Tom Jones TO marry me. Tom was puSinns'
enterprising young man with nice pusiiiess ~
town, plenty of money, good looks ana prisliv'
taking way with him. /, James Brown, was
almost r,ldde-aged when | first saw her; Ola lor
NV age too, with sober way Of looking at things
that came, perhaps, from the hardshlIs naa
always known. Shy of women, too, and with
nothing to offer my wife but a shabby little house
q mile out of town. with o few acres of good gram
land about it, and pair of hands that had never
been soiled by dishonest deed and were Wiling
to work to the bone for the woman loved
And I did work, but not in way thai told.
We got along well at first, selling our sinan
errors at fair prices. raising chickens and sending
eggs to market, with now and then hrFln Oh
butter to spare living close, with no luXurles anu
few comforts to speak OF, but settlng ouU young
fruit trees and training vines about the mouse,
until it began to take on slightly look, ana we
had as happy little home as anybody ZOE mles
around
Until our second baby came-the first had been
n hoy. but this was girl-up to this time L had
been tolerably content to keep on as was gong
and build UP slowly and surely Tor the future future
But looking at that frail delicate httle crea.uie
and thinking what helpless creatures girls are IN
this world anyhow, and how bad it would be II
ANYTHING happened to mfe, made me wish coulu
have some quick, splendid stroke Oh luck thaV
would set us all ahead in the world beyond
chance of want. And then it was that notlon
came into my head had always had hanker-
inr after machinery since / was boy, and
knacl< for putting things together L was ouO
in the field, l remember, the sun blazing down
upon me, moving grain with an oidlasfholeu
scythe, and thinking OF all the laoor peiore nie
in binding it up into bundles, when the idea
struck me. Thinks /, if only some machine could
be planned out now that would cut the grain and
Law il in heaps ready for binding what lot OF
work twould save. Yes and be fortune, too
10 any man. Perhaps one might construct some
thing that would bind the grain at the same
time. But how to go about it /? 1 drew stump
of a pencil from my pocket, took out a lttle
account book that 1 always. carried ana there.
in the broiling hot sun, began TO draw pan Oh
the machine.
Well to make long story short, l worked
four years upon it, day and night. often ana
often Eve got up in the middle of the night ana
zone out into the little shop where l worked, and
studied upon the thing, or put bits OF brass ana
tin together to see how they'd Work. four years
! kept at it, and the weeds grew all over Ihe
place the fence broke down and cattle got IN
and everything was well ON the road TO rum. 10
through l mortgagcd the place, and then when
IL was all done and the patent secured TINS was
late in the ffties), l found there was another man
already in the field with machine thao oiu ,lc
Same work and it was an open question wheCher
his or mine was the best. That was WHAT had
como down to the State fair for. Both our ma
chimes were to be taken out into the field Tor
test trial. and upon whether won or falled de-
pended all the results Of four years labor
1 lived among a very practical set OF people,
nnd YOU may readily believe that l hadn't a
friend or neighbor but what had pronounced me
N "pcor stick" long before this. Everybody put
nv wife she always had patient smile ana
cheering word, though l don't believe she ever
had grain of faith in my success She came OUT
on the porch when started off, Rob by her slde
and Ellie, the little GIRL in her arms ehe was
q wee crcature, was Ellie, small for her age, buo
like q dove in her ways She Stretched oug her
arms to hug and kiss me- AS L took her L no
tccd that Ter poor little shoes were fairly falling
TO pieces.
"papa get Ellie some new Shoes said the
child smiling ND into nv face. Poor little dear.
The shame of il My wife hadn't decent dress
TO her back, and Rob had gone bareiooted since
carly spring. looked at Jane, and 1t seemed 10
me for a moment that a quick spark Oh magma
tioa shone in her eye
.Yes YES papa will get Ellie some shoes, L
said hastily. then put her down and started on
AT the gate turned an instant and looked back
end there stin stood my wife In her 1adeo prinC
dress. Rob barefooted and ragged, and Ellie In
her shabby little shoes Even as stood there
looking / felt short, quick throb OF pain, ike
n prcsage Of the future, and something warned
me that memory had received the picture, TO
Hing it back. barbed with anguish, in years to
come.
Well as was saying, there 1 was in the State
fair in charge of my machine, sometimes showing
IL of to people, sometimes listening 10 my rNai,
who had the section adjoining mine, as ne ctleu
nm the merits Of his invention. The contest was
not to come off until the last day OF The lalr,
So to while away the time and Keep as lar as
possible from the man who threatened 10 rum my
chances of success, l neighbored a good deal with
tho occupant of the next stall beyond me on the
other side. Oddly enough, OF all men In the
world this was Tom Jones. And oddly enough
of all things in the world, he was there with an
invention of his own, machine Tor Matching
chickens by artificial heat A most RIDICULOUS
and impracticable venture, every one agreed, but
Iom talked in quite lofty way, OF how IL was
no new thing but practice among the old ERyp
tians, who used men instead of coal-ol heaters
and somehow or other Tom had managed TO gel
out few chickens, sicl<ly little creatures ual
went chipping round and looking the miserable
little orphans they were. However, Tom was
rational on every other subject and we overlooked
old scores and grew quito friendly and sociable
Well IS l was saying the weather was close
and suitry until we reached the last day but one
Then it grew so choking and oppressive that
people began to predict change in the weather
And sure enough, just after noon dark clouds
began to loom up in the southwest and the storm
came down upon us, came with loud roar anc
flashes OF lightning, and the rain falling in sheets
4 remember looking out Of the window and think